Lorain County land bank prepares to tear down derelict homes

LORAIN -- The first batch of Lorain home demolitions funded through the Lorain County land bank will begin Monday.

Contractors will tear down homes that were declared nuisances to public health in the city.

The Lorain County Land Reutilization Corp., also called the county land bank, pays for demolitions out of $3.2 million from the state's court settlement with banks over improper foreclosure lawsuits.

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Attorney General Mike DeWine's office used the $75 million settlement to create the Moving Ohio Forward Demolition Grant Program for communities to use the money to tear down houses.

For several years, Lorain officials also have worked to demolish the rundown houses using money from the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program.

Though the programs use different revenue sources, the goal is the same. Both programs have found support from Lorain city and county officials, who want to remove blighted homes that hurt property values of neighboring occupied homes.

The homes meeting the wrecking ball are clustered, so the removals could have visible effects in the neighborhood, said Patrick Metzger, director of the Lorain County Port Authority, which operates the county land bank.

"The first round of these Lorain demolitions includes a lot in the same section of the city," he said. "There's 10 within a probably 5-by-5 block area that we're going to hit next week."

The houses slated for demolition on Monday are 623 W. 23rd, 124 W. 23rd and 801-807 North Central Drive.

After that will be:

o 889 W. 23rd St.

o 500 W. 25th St.

o 406 W. 28th St.

o 2515 Lexington Ave.

o 219 E. 29th St.

o 222 E. 30th St.

The contractors on next week's demolitions include Senghas Construction, of LaGrange; Denes Concrete, of Wellington and All-American Demolition, of Lorain.

The project on Monday will include a demolition tour with local officials working with the land bank and the Lorain County Port Authority.